There was once a merchant man, who prospered in trade, and at one
time his every dirham won him fifty. Presently, his luck turned
against him and he knew it not; so he said to himself, "I have
wealth galore, yet do I toil and travel from country to country;
so better had I abide in my own land and rest myself in my own
house from this travail and trouble and sell and buy at home."
Then he made two parts of his money, and with one bought wheat in
summer, saying, "Whenas winter cometh, I shall sell it at a great
profit." But, when the cold set in wheat fell to half the price
for which he had purchased it, whereat he was concerned with sore
chagrin and left it till the next year. However, the price then
fell yet lower and one of his intimates said to him, "Thou hast
no luck in this wheat; so do thou sell it at whatsoever price."
Said the merchant, "Ah, long have I profited! so 'tis allowable
that I lose this time. Allah is all-knowing! An it abide with me
ten full years, I will not sell it save for a gaining
bargain."[FN#150] Then he walled up in his anger the granary-door
with clay, and by the ordinance of Allah Almighty, there came a
great rain and descended from the terrace-roofs of the house
wherein was the wheat so that the grain rotted; and the merchant
had to pay the porters from his purse five hundred dirhams for
them to carry it forth and cast it without the city, the smell of
it having become fulsome. So his friend said to him, "How often
did I tell thee thou hadst no luck in wheat? But thou wouldst not
give ear to my speech, and now it behoveth thee to go to the
astrologer[FN#151] and question him of thine ascendant."
Accordingly the trader betook himself to the astrologer and
questioned him of his star, and astrophil said to him, "Thine
ascendant is adverse. Put not forth thy hand to any business, for
thou wilt not prosper thereby." However, he paid no heed to the
astrologer's words and said in himself, "If I do my business, I
am not afraid of aught." Then he took the other half of his
money, after he had spent the first in three years, and builded
him a ship, which he loaded with a cargaison of whatso seemed
good to him and all that was with him and embarked on the sea, so
he might voyage questing gain. The ship remained in port some
days, till he should be certified whither he would wend, and he
said, "I will ask the traders what this merchandise profiteth and
in what land 'tis wanted and how much can it gain." They directed
him to a far country, where his dirham should produce an
hundredfold. So he set sail and made for the land in question;
but, as he went, there blew on him a furious gale, and the ship
foundered. The merchant saved himself on a plank and the wind
cast him up, naked as he was, on the sea-shore, where stood a
town hard by. He praised Allah and gave Him thanks for his
preservation; then, seeing a great village nigh hand, he betook
himself thither and saw, seated therein, a very old man, whom he
acquainted with his case and that which had betided him. The
Shaykh grieved for him with sore grieving, when he heard his tale
and set food before him. He ate of it and the old man said to
him, "Tarry here with me, so I may make thee my overseer[FN#152]
and factor over a farm I have here, and thou shalt have of me
five dirhams a day." Answered the merchant, "Allah make fair thy
reward, and requite thee with His boons and bounties." So he
abode in this employ, till he had sowed and reaped and threshed
and winnowed, and all was clean in his hand and the Shaykh
appointed neither agent nor inspector, but relied utterly upon
him. Then the merchant bethought himself and said, "I doubt me
the owner of this grain will never give me my due; so the better
rede were to take of it after the measure of my wage; and if he
give me my right, I will return to him that I have taken." So he
laid hands upon the grain, after the measure of that which fell
to him, and hid it in a hiding place. Then he carried the rest
and meted it out to the old man, who said to him "Come, take thy
wage, for which I conditioned with thee, and sell the grain and
buy with the price clothes and what not else; and though thou
abide with me ten years, yet shalt thou still have this hire and
I will acquit it to thee on this wise." Quoth the merchant in
himself, "Indeed, I have done a foul deed by taking it without
his permission." Then he went to fetch that which he had hidden
of the grain, but found it not and returned, perplexed,
sorrowful, to the Shaykh, who asked him, "What aileth thee to be
mournful?" and he answered, "Methought thou wouldst not pay me my
due; so I took of the grain, after the measure of my hire; and
now thou hast paid me all my right and I went to bring back to
thee that which I had hidden from thee, but found it gone, for
those who had come upon it have stolen it." The Shaykh was wroth,
when he heard these words, and said to the merchant, "There is no
device against ill luck! I had given thee this but, of the
sorriness of thy doom and thy fortune, thou hast done this deed,
O oppressor of thine own self! Thou deemedst I would not fulfil
to thee thy wage; but, by Allah, nevermore will I give thee
aught." Then he drove him away from him. So the merchant went
forth, woeful, grieving, weeping-eyed, and wandered along the
sea-shore, till he came to a sort of duckers[FN#153] diving in
the sea for pearls. They saw him weeping and wailing and said to
him, "What is thy case and what garreth thee shed tears?" So he
acquainted them with his history, from incept to conclusion,
whereby the duckers knew him and asked him "Art thou Such-an-one,
son of Such-an-one?" He answered "Yes;" whereupon they condoled
with him and wept sore for him and said to him, "Abide here till
we dive upon thy luck this next time and whatso betideth us shall
be between us and thee."[FN#154] Accordingly, they ducked and
brought up ten oyster-shells, in each two great unions: whereat
they marvelled and said to him,"By Allah, thy luck hath
re-appeared and thy good star is in the ascendant!" Then the
pearl-fishers gave him the ten pearls and said to him, "Sell two
of them and make them thy stock-in-trade: and hide the rest
against the time of thy straitness." So he took them, joyful and
contented, and applied himself to sewing eight of them in his
gown, keeping the two others in his mouth; but a thief saw him
and went and advertised his fellows of him; whereupon they
gathered together upon him, and took his gown and departed from
him. When they were gone away, he arose, saying, "The two unions
I have will suffice me," and made for the nearest city, where he
brought out the pearls for sale. Now as Destiny would have it, a
certain jeweller of the town had been robbed of ten unions, like
those which were with the merchant; so, when he saw the two
pearls in the broker's hand, he asked him, "To whom do these
belong?" and the broker answered, "To yonder man." The jeweller,
seeing the merchant in pauper case and clad in tattered clothes,
suspected him and said to him, "Where be the other eight pearls?"
The merchant thought he asked him of those which were in the
gown, whenas the man had purposed only to surprise him into
confession, and replied, "The thieves stole them from me." When
the jeweller heard his reply, he was certified that it was the
wight who had taken his good; so he laid hold of him and haling
him before the Chief of Police, said to him, "This is the man who
stole my unions: I have found two of them upon him and he
confesseth to the other eight." Now the Wali knew of the theft of
the pearls; so he bade throw the merchant into jail. Accordingly
they imprisoned him and whipped him, and he lay in trunk a whole
year, till, by the ordinance of Allah Almighty, the Chief of
Police arrested one of the divers aforesaid, and imprisoned him
in the prison where the merchant was jailed. The ducker saw him
and knowing him, questioned him of his case; whereupon he told
them his tale, and that which had befallen him; and the diver
marvelled at the lack of his luck. So, when he came forth of the
prison, he acquainted the Sultan with the merchant's case and
told him that it was he who had given him the pearls. The Sultan
bade bring him forth of the jail, and asked him of his story,
whereupon he told him all that had befallen him, and the Sovran
pitied him and assigned him a lodging in his own palace, together
with pay and allowances for his support. Now the lodging in
question adjoined the king's house, and whilst the merchant was
rejoicing in this and saying, "Verily, my luck hath returned, and
I shall live in the shadow of this king the rest of my life," he
espied an opening walled up with clay and stones. So he cleared
the opening the better to see what was behind it, and behold, it
was a window giving upon the lodging of the king's women. When he
saw this, he was startled and affrighted and rising in haste,
fetched clay and stopped it up again. But one of the
eunuchs[FN#155] saw him, and suspecting him, repaired to the
Sultan, and told him of this. So he came and seeing the stones
pulled out, was wroth with the merchant and said to him, "Be this
my reward from thee, that thou seekest to unveil my Harim?"
Thereupon he bade pluck out his eyes; and they did as he
commanded. The merchant took his eyes in his hand and said, "How
long, O star of ill-omen, wilt thou afflict me? First my wealth
and now my life!" And he bewailed himself, saying, "Striving
profiteth me naught against evil fortune. The Compassionate aided
me not, and effort was worse than useless."[FN#156] "On like
wise, O king," continued the youth, "whilst fortune was
favourable to me, all that I did came to good; but now that it
hath turned against me, everything turneth to mine ill." When the
youth had made an end of his tale, the king's anger subsided a
little, and he said, "Return him to the prison, for the day
draweth to an end, and to-morrow we will look into his affair,
and punish him for his ill-deeds."
The Second Day.
Of Looking to the Ends of Affairs.
Whenit was the next day, the second of the king's Wazirs, whose
name was Baharún, came in to him and said, "Allah advance the
king! This deed which yonder youth hath done is a grave matter,
and a foul misdeed and a heinous against the household of the
king." So Azadbakht bade fetch the youth, because of the
Minister's speech; and when he came into the presence, said to
him, "Woe to thee, O youth! There is no help but that I do thee
die by the dreadest of deaths, for indeed thou hast committed a
grave crime, and I will make thee a warning to the folk." The
youth replied, "O king, hasten not, for the looking to the ends
of affairs is a column of the kingdom, and a cause of continuance
and assurance for the kingship. Whoso looketh not to the issues
of actions, there befalleth him that which befel the merchant,
and whoso looketh to the consequences of actions, there betideth
him of joyance that which betideth the merchant's son." The king
asked, "And what is the story of the merchant and his sons?" and
the youth answered, "Hear, O king,